hiker9999:/Halfway surprised that Congress didn't flat out just take the other agencies budgets and give them to DOD wholesale.

the funny thing is, if given the choice of accepting it or not, the DoD probably would give the money back. They know how inflated they are and want to cut stuff from them but Congress insists upon keeping it.

somedude210:hiker9999: /Halfway surprised that Congress didn't flat out just take the other agencies budgets and give them to DOD wholesale.

the funny thing is, if given the choice of accepting it or not, the DoD probably would give the money back. They know how inflated they are and want to cut stuff from them but Congress insists upon keeping it.

Congress is the problem, DoD is just the result of said problem

I don't care what you want...that plane engine is built in my district. So you'll f*cking take it and like it.

willfullyobscure:farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

VoodooTaco:willfullyobscure: farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

After reading the article (I know, we're not actually supposed to do that), it seems that the DoD is delaying furloughs while they try to accurately determine whether Congress actually did something with the budget.

MacWizard:After reading the article (I know, we're not actually supposed to do that), it seems that the DoD is delaying furloughs while they try to accurately determine whether Congress actually did something with the budget.

somedude210:VoodooTaco: willfullyobscure: farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

somedude210:MacWizard: After reading the article (I know, we're not actually supposed to do that), it seems that the DoD is delaying furloughs while they try to accurately determine whether Congress actually did something with the budget.

see second post

I wasn't questioning the delay (which is all the second post addressed), just correcting the word "because" in the headline to "while they try to accurately determine."

FTA: "...defense officials need time to analyze the temporary spending measure that Congress passed this week."

Jobber8742:somedude210: VoodooTaco: willfullyobscure: farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

/dod civilian//smurfing smurfheaded smurfaced smurfers

THIS

/also DoD civilian

Also This.

/Also DoD civilian

Also this

/Contractor, but I'll be the one picking up the extra day of work when they start shutting down every Friday.

VoodooTaco:DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

The House directs how money is spent. Write a strongly worded letter to your Representative.Too bad the House of Representatives is headed by a drunk and controlled by a bunch of reactionary myopic children.

Muta:VoodooTaco: DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

The House directs how money is spent. Write a strongly worded letter to your Representative.Too bad the House of Representatives is headed by a drunk and controlled by a bunch of reactionary myopic children.

Especially since my Rep is a Kennedy. I don't really have much say in the House

Where wolf:Jobber8742: somedude210: VoodooTaco: willfullyobscure: farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

/dod civilian//smurfing smurfheaded smurfaced smurfers

THIS

/also DoD civilian

Also This.

/Also DoD civilian

Also this

/Contractor, but I'll be the one picking up the extra day of work when they start shutting down every Friday.

Also this.

//Contractor, the DOD civilians I work with are going to a 4-day weekend every other week, which I think is a smart way to handle it.

Gonz:Where wolf: Jobber8742: somedude210: VoodooTaco: willfullyobscure: farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

/dod civilian//smurfing smurfheaded smurfaced smurfers

THIS

/also DoD civilian

Also This.

/Also DoD civilian

Also this

/Contractor, but I'll be the one picking up the extra day of work when they start shutting down every Friday.

Also this.

//Contractor, the DOD civilians I work with are going to a 4-day weekend every other week, which I think is a smart way to handle it.

Hey, I'm not a big fan of kicking you guys off your taxpayer gravy train, believe me. I know how DC works, you guys hit the jackpot, kudos. The HeadStart and Meals thing just makes me really mad.

My honest opinion is that the DoD should slash its giant boondoggles like ships and subs and that retarded jet plane and triple spending on research and civilian infrastructure instead. Stop lining Boeing's pockets and build us some roads, bridges and science fictiony nanotech stuff and put it all in the public domain.

willfullyobscure:Hey, I'm not a big fan of kicking you guys off your taxpayer gravy train, believe me. I know how DC works, you guys hit the jackpot, kudos.

Yeah, because DoD civilians aren't taxpayers too, and they don't pump one cent into the economy - they just suckle at the taxpayer's teat and do nothing 40 hours a week for big sweet tax-free paychecks!

My honest opinion is that the DoD should slash its giant boondoggles like ships and subs and that retarded jet plane and triple spending on research and civilian infrastructure instead. Stop lining Boeing's pockets and build us some roads, bridges and science fictiony nanotech stuff and put it all in the public domain.

Agree completely there. The Army has flat out said it doesn't want the tanks Congress insists they need, and Air Force pilots don't want the F-22s. These two things alone would save many billions of dollars.

Obama is going to angry. The cuts were supposed to be immediate and painful so that he can gain political capitol. No need to put it off even though all of the cuts can be cured in the current budget negotiations.

The can has been kicked. The waste here is we begin spending all our time replanning to some new budget scenario. What a waste of time and money

willfullyobscure:Hey, I'm not a big fan of kicking you guys off your taxpayer gravy train, believe me. I know how DC works, you guys hit the jackpot, kudos.

I honestly don't get where this comes from. I competed for and won my federal job the same way I was hired by several civilian companies: education, training, experience, etc. And now, in exchange for working my ass off in acquisitions, more than 52% of my paycheck goes to taxes, health care, and retirement each month. What more do you want?

i'm almost amazed the us credit rating hasn't been further downraded when the federal govt is being run like it's living from paycheck to paycheck. then i remember those credit agencies probably don't want to get into further trouble for the housing mess.

edmo:The can has been kicked. The waste here is we begin spending all our time replanning to some new budget scenario. What a waste of time and money

willfullyobscure: Hey, I'm not a big fan of kicking you guys off your taxpayer gravy train, believe me. I know how DC works, you guys hit the jackpot, kudos.

I honestly don't get where this comes from. I competed for and won my federal job the same way I was hired by several civilian companies: education, training, experience, etc. And now, in exchange for working my ass off in acquisitions, more than 52% of my paycheck goes to taxes, health care, and retirement each month. What more do you want?

I've been involved in procurements and seen the whole sector up close and personal. Its wealth redistribution, pure and simple. Supply and demand in government spending is so inside out that the laws of economics literally don't work. Its a huge game to take as much money as possible for the least amount of return, which is normal, but there's no real competition. Getting a purchase contract is so obscenely time consuming that once the ink is dry, the vendor can literally charge whatever they feel like and nobody else can compete. $600 toilets, $40,000 servers, $5,000 PCs. Its a golden ticket. There's literally a disincentive against cost efficiency.

Where wolf:Jobber8742: somedude210: VoodooTaco: willfullyobscure: farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

/dod civilian//smurfing smurfheaded smurfaced smurfers

THIS

/also DoD civilian

Also This.

/Also DoD civilian

Also this

/Contractor, but I'll be the one picking up the extra day of work when they start shutting down every Friday.

Contractor here. We're planning on running flight simulators 12-16 hrs a day to make up for no JP8 money. Our civilians will also be on 4-day weeks so it'll be fun figuring out how to cover that short-fall.

willfullyobscure:My honest opinion is that the DoD should slash its giant boondoggles like ships and subs and that retarded jet plane and triple spending on research and civilian infrastructure instead. Stop lining Boeing's pockets and build us some roads, bridges and science fictiony nanotech stuff and put it all in the public domain

Problem is, congress is insisting they keep these programs open. Congress apparently also wrote into the budget passed yesterday that the Post Office has to continue with 6 days of letter delivery.

somedude210:VoodooTaco: willfullyobscure: farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

/dod civilian//smurfing smurfheaded smurfaced smurfers

THIS

/also DoD civilia

verbaltoxin:Where wolf: Jobber8742: somedude210: VoodooTaco: willfullyobscure: farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

/dod civilian//smurfing smurfheaded smurfaced smurfers

THIS

/also DoD civilian

Also This.

/Also DoD civilian

Also this

/Contractor, but I'll be the one picking up the extra day of work when they start shutting down every Friday.

Contractor here. We're planning on running flight simulators 12-16 hrs a day to make up for no JP8 money. Our civilians will also be on 4-day weeks so it'll be fun figuring out how to cover that short-fall.

I like how you are all being productive on Fark. I work with Dod Civilians and Defense Contractors everyday. Most of them are useless. Surfing the web all day. Fark, Drudge, Facebook, etc. I can't wait for the furloughs to start, maybe some eyes will get opened.

Propain_az:I like how you are all being productive on Fark. I work with Dod Civilians and Defense Contractors everyday. Most of them are useless. Surfing the web all day. Fark, Drudge, Facebook, etc. I can't wait for the furloughs to start, maybe some eyes will get opened.

Gonz:Where wolf: Jobber8742: somedude210: VoodooTaco: willfullyobscure: farking DoD is cuts that should be made. meanwhile farking Head Start kids are having to stay home and Meals on Wheels is cutting food to the elderly. farking farkheaded farkfaced farkers

DoD should be cut. But not by furloughing everyone 20-25% (real effect on gross takehome pay), and not by reducing every single program by 9%. That's just retarded.

/dod civilian//smurfing smurfheaded smurfaced smurfers

THIS

/also DoD civilian

Also This.

/Also DoD civilian

Also this

/Contractor, but I'll be the one picking up the extra day of work when they start shutting down every Friday.

Also this.

//Contractor, the DOD civilians I work with are going to a 4-day weekend every other week, which I think is a smart way to handle it.

Also this...//DoD civilian in limbo... I supposed to be moving into managment at a new location, but there are no funds for 'non-essential' PCS moves. Now get this, I've been told that I cannot 'self-fund' my PCS move. So here I sit in my old job in limbo.

Propain_az:I like how you are all being productive on Fark. I work with Dod Civilians and Defense Contractors everyday. Most of them are useless. Surfing the web all day. Fark, Drudge, Facebook, etc. I can't wait for the furloughs to start, maybe some eyes will get opened.

Fark has become so awesome since Romney got elected, remember? It's hard to resist.

willfullyobscure:I've been involved in procurements and seen the whole sector up close and personal.

You're comparing apples and... galvanized buckets. I don't think there's a person who's been involved with anything DoD for more than a month who won't say "wow, the procurement system is inefficient and overly expensive". The perfect piece of military hardware in 2013 is not one that saves American servicemembers' lives, nor is it one that kills the enemy more effectively and efficiently. Instead, it's an item where some aspect of the manufacture exists in 435 Congressional districts.

But we're not talking about that. And these furloughs won't fix that. What these will do is affect the income of people who work at regular jobs, just for the DoD. I'm a freaking SysAdmin, for example. I work for the DoD because it's a lot more cost effective to pay me an annual salary than it is to have a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine sitting in my chair, where the government is on the hook for their pay, benefits, training, healthcare... the whole 9 yards. My computers are going to be administered by someone, and I'm the cheapest option.

Complaining about procurement while talking about these furloughs? It's kind of like saying that you're going to fix the problems with the price of gas by having the guy at the convenient store work fewer hours. Yes, on the one hand, from a purely economic standpoint, it's true- cutting those hours will lower the cost of a salary, which will in turn lower the industry's overall operating expenses, which should result in slightly lower consumer prices. On the other hand, it's doing nothing to address the root causes of the issue, it's short-sighted (because nothing breaks after hours or on the weekend), and it's an overall negative impact on the economy as a whole.

But I find it absolutely farking pathetic that our legislature is too incompetent to put together a functional budget. There's no excuse, no reason for this asinine behavior. The people in Congress right now belong in prison.

casual disregard:I saw the writing on the wall and started saving two years ago.

But I find it absolutely farking pathetic that our legislature is too incompetent to put together a functional budget. There's no excuse, no reason for this asinine behavior. The people in Congress right now belong in prison.

125 of us middle class DoDEA civilians wrote to Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R GA) to tell him how a 20% pay cut would negatively impact us and our local economy. Some of us offered viable cost cutting solutions from our perspective as well. We all got the same canned BS form letter that a Fox News intern could have written. Disheartening. If we'd signed them "Sincerely, A Vote and a Campaign Donation" instead of our names, perhaps it would have gotten his attention.

We have some savings, too. We never got a honeymoon after our marriage 8 years ago because my husband deployed 2 weeks later. We've been saving for a trip to Alaska for our 10 year anniversary. I hope we don't have to take a hammer to that piggy bank.

I see a lot of stress in here about cushy DoD jobs and how happy some people are to see these furloughs. I'm also seeing a lot of people pissed off because the continuing resolution makes it possible for the DoD to reevaluate.

What no one seems to understand is that the cuts ARE STILL HAPPENING. This doesn't change the fact that the DoD has to chop a certain amount of money off its spending. The amount hasn't changed. The only thing that changed is now they have the option (should they choose to exercise it) to cut the money from somewhere besides federal payroll.

This move makes it FAR more likely that the cuts will be absorbed by large government contractors who are less likely to pass the loss onto their workforce.

I'm all for cutting waste in the government, especially in DoD, but anyone who thinks it's a good idea to take money out of the pockets of the people most likely to spend it (thus stimulating their local economy) can eat a big bag of dicks.